MLB

Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Josh Johnson took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, as the Florida Marlins handled the Atlanta Braves, 5-1, in the middle test of a three-game series at Turner Field.

Johnson (2-0) finished with nine strikeouts and three walks to lower his ERA to 1.35. The 27-year-old carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning on Opening Day against the Mets.

Freddie Freeman stepped to the plate with one out in the eighth and laced an opposite-field hit down the left-field line for a double. Ryan Webb was called in from the bullpen with Johnson's pitch count at 109. Webb retired the only two batters he faced.

"The offense went out there and put some runs on the board," Johnson said. "I felt like I was effectively wild. It was a little tough at times but I made pitches when I needed to."

Randy Choate gave up a solo homer to Chipper Jones in the ninth.

Logan Morrison hit a solo homer for the Marlins, who snapped a brief two-game skid. Chris Coghlan went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored.

Atlanta starter Tim Hudson (2-1) gave up five runs on seven hits over six innings.

"He was really good," Hudson said of Johnson. "It's kind of hard to spot him that many runs and expect our guys to put together good at-bats against him. We got in too big of a hole early against a guy like that."

Jones' homer gave him 1,500 runs batted in for his career. Jones is only the third switch hitter in MLB history to reach that plateau and just the second switch hitter to collect 2,500 hits and 1,500 RBI (Hall of Fame first baseman Eddie Murray had 3,255 hits and 1,917 RBI).

The Marlins scored all five of their runs over the first three innings. Coghlan got the game started with a double to right-center field and scored two batters later on Hanley Ramirez's base hit.

Florida added three more runs in the second. Gaby Sanchez and Greg Dobbs hit consecutive one-out singles. John Buck was then intentionally walked to load the bases. Johnson helped his own cause with an RBI single to right. Coghlan followed with a two-run base hit to left for a 4-0 lead.

Morrison's blast to right in the third gave the Marlins a 5-0 margin.

Johnson retired nine straight batters before walking Brian McCann with two outs in the fourth.

The right-hander retired five consecutive batters prior to having his no- hitter broken up in the eighth.